Akin As The GOP’s Biden

Yes, I said before that we should have just let the whole Todd Akin abortion nonsense blow over, and support him for the Senate. That would have been a viable plan, if vast numbers of the GOP hadn’t come out right away screaming for him to step down. We like to call the liberals “sheeple”, but like it or not, we’re not all that different. If GOP leaders and pundits hadn’t given in to the liberal media hype on this verbal faux pas, and did what Akin did in his initial apology – shifted the narrative back to the real issues – the polls might not have started tanking, as suggested here.

All things being equal, it wouldn’t have been the end of the world for the GOP to have their own little Joe Biden running around in the Senate. Bumbling politicians like that do have their place in this country – if nothing else, they liven up the news broadcasts, and give us something to laugh at from time to time. You know, there are whiny left-wing psychologists out there that say laughter is actually good for us! And let’s be real here. What did Akin do that was really so wrong, when you consider it in the entire conservative political landscape? The GOP doesn’t make an exception for abortions after a rape anyway. And as for the contention that women’s bodies have a mechanism to prevent pregnancy as a result of forced sex, Akin wasn’t completely off base – there is a scientific theory on it that is rooted in evolutionary theory at least a little. No, I am not suggesting that I condone or agree with what Akin said (nor do I agree with the GOP platform on abortion, for that matter.) What I am saying is that yet again, the GOP has dropped the ball, and allowed the Dems to control the narrative.

The proverbial ball is in Akin’s court right now, and I’m not going to editorialize on what I think he should do. Bluntly, I don’t think that he is paying attention to what anyone is saying on that anyway. What I will say is that the GOP needs to seriously think about what happens to the next Akin. Does the party throw that person under the bus like happened to Akin? Or does the party start getting the message out that when a Republican politician screws up, rule of thumb is that the party and pundits go in lockstep to protect them? Complain all you like about the Dems, but they’ve been doing the latter for ages, and – surprise, surprise – it works for them.

This isn’t a question about principles. It is a question about strategy. The only one talking about principles now is Akin, and he’s trying desperately to keep standing as the sand’s disappearing beneath his feet. But, that wouldn’t necessarily be the situation. We’ve been complaining about distractions being used by Obama to keep eyes off the major issues, and now? We’re feeding that fire, to the point where Mitt Romney had to finally chime in on the situation. I finished the last story I wrote on this with “It’s the economy, stupid!” This fight wasn’t worth fighting, and now, Akin should recognize he’s finished. He’s not going to be the GOP’s Biden. Sure, that might not seem a big deal, but he’s also a lost opportunity.

When life gives you lemons…. Akin’s “lemonade” would have been an excellent indictment against the continuation of Obamacare. But, instead of owning the situation, the right literally handed it to the mainstream media and left on a silver platter. In the future, we need to think about what lemonade we can make of the lemons our politicians hand us, before we let the left keep us from making the best of the situation. Is the GOP really out there to focus on the real issues, or are we going to pander to the left-wing distractions? Which is more important here: